Nell was the first to mention the engagement dinner. “Guess what I got in the mail today?” She sipped a Black Russian.
Clara said, “An invitation to Paige and Carter’s engagement dinner at the mansion?”
“You guessed it.”
Me, toos filled the room.
Carter glanced at Paige. Her eyes were waiting. She mouthed, “That was fast.”
Elise, his other half sister, said, “Those invitations are gorgeous. Estrella’s an artist, I swear. I mean, you could frame mine, I’m not kidding.” For the benefit of friends not in the know, she explained, “Estrella’s the housekeeper. She’s a great cook, a brilliant organizer and she does calligraphy.”
Clara said, “I’m so glad about this. This is big. Willow never does stuff like this. I keep asking her to come to family things. She always says she’ll be out of town.” She nodded at Rory. “Rory asked her to come tonight.”
Paige was still tucking shiny ornaments into the mantel display. She arranged a gold pinecone just so among the pine boughs and said, “She’s off to Cancún. Right, Carter?” At his grunt of agreement, she went on. “The dinner party was totally Willow’s idea. She caught me at the Holiday Ball and said she’d like to give us a party.”
“Wait a minute.” Ice cubes rattled as Nell swirled her drink. “Mom was at the ball?”
Quinn and Chloe exchanged a doubtful look. Quinn said, “We didn’t see her.”
Garrett, Carter’s other full brother, shrugged. “I didn’t, either.”
So Paige went ahead and told them about Willow catching her in the deserted hallway. “She looked beautiful,” Paige said, “in a low-cut black silk jersey dress. I swear she doesn’t look a day over forty—if that.”
Jody, Carter’s other full sister, who owned a florist shop on Central Street and was two years older than Nell, asked, “Did anyone but Paige see her that night?” There was a lot of head-shaking and a chorus of nos.
Paige said, “I know. It was strange. When she first grabbed my arm, I thought maybe I was about to come face-to-face with one of the Haltersham’s famous ghosts.”
“Weird,” remarked Nell. “Mom is just weird.”
Nobody disagreed. Carter could have added that their mother was also diabolical and manipulative and sometimes he wanted to strangle her. But he kept that opinion to himself and headed for the kitchen to grab another beer.
Quinn followed him in there. “Get me one, too?”
Carter took two longnecks from the fridge. “I think I need a little fresh air.”
Quinn accepted the beer Carter handed him. “Mind some company?”
“Why not?”
They tossed their empties in the recycle bin Rory had set out in plain sight and went through the dining room to the front hall, where Garrett, beer in hand, joined them. Carter led the way out to the front porch, his brothers behind him.
Garrett hooked a leg on the porch rail. Carter and Quinn took the matched pair of carved wooden chairs that Walker, a skilled carpenter, had made himself. It was pretty cold, but they all wore thick sweaters, jeans and boots against the chill.
Carter glanced from Quinn to Garrett, thinking how they all three looked kind of like their father—big and bulked up. Quinn was a couple of inches shorter than Carter, his brown hair a shade lighter. Garrett, a year younger than Carter, ran Bravo Construction with Nell. He had almost-black hair and was the tallest of the three of them at six-four.
“I’m happy for you,” said Quinn, tipping his longneck in Carter’s direction. Carter tapped the bottle with his and they drank. Quinn nodded. “Paige is a winner and you two have always had something good going on.”
“You lucky dog.” Garrett knocked back a long sip. “All the good ones are getting snapped up.”
Carter and Quinn snorted in unison. It wasn’t as if Garrett was falling all over himself trying to find someone to settle down with. He liked the single life.
Garrett braced his shoulder against the porch post and nudged Carter’s leg with his boot. “Mom giving a family party? Never saw that coming.”
Carter took another long pull off his beer. “Paige wanted it, wanted to help her get ‘outside herself.’ Paige’s words, not mine.”
Garrett and Quinn exchanged freighted glances and Garrett said, “Yeah. We get that there’s no way you were driving it.” Of the three of them, Carter had always been the most impatient with Willow. He openly admitted his resentment of the choices she’d made and the childhood she’d put them through. Back in the day, he and his brothers and sisters had been known as the Bastard Bravos. It was a small town. Everybody knew way too much about everybody else. People looked down on them because their mom wouldn’t stop having kids with another woman’s husband.
Quinn, who had fists of steel and a heart of mush, said, “Be patient with Mom, bro.”
“I’m trying. It ain’t easy.” He considered how much he was willing to say, and then asked Garrett, “She been after you to settle down?”
Garrett looked mildly terrified. “Hell, no. Why? She been after you?”
“Yeah. She kind of was. It’s all Quinn’s fault.”
His youngest brother made a thoughtful sound. “Because of me and Chloe?”
“That’s right.”
Quinn settled deeper into the chair. “Marrying Chloe is the best thing I ever did.”
Garrett challenged, “What about your little girl?”
“That goes without sayin’. Annabelle. Chloe. I got it all. Never thought I’d be this happy.”
“And I’m happy for you,” Garrett said. “For both of you. But just leave me out of it. I like being single.”
Carter couldn’t resist ribbing him. “You watch. Ma’ll be after you next.”
Quinn frowned. “Wait a minute. I’m getting the feeling she did more to push you toward the altar than you’re telling us...”
Cater knew he’d already said too much. Still, he was kind of tempted to go all in, to tell his brothers exactly what their mother had done, and to ask them what they thought about his waiting for the right moment to go into it with Paige.
But why? It wouldn’t matter what advice they gave him. He was going to do it his way, pick his own time—the right time—to tell Paige everything.
No call to go dragging Quinn and Garrett into it.
So he only shrugged. “Ma just got on me is all. She got after me to find a wife and start a family.”
“And look.” Garrett chortled. “It worked.”
Carter had a sudden burning need to punch his middle brother in the face. But he settled for giving him the evil eye. “Don’t even think that. Ma has got nothing to do with me marrying Paige.”
Garrett put up both hands. “Don’t shoot, big brother. I take it all back.”
“Smart move.” Carter drained the rest of his beer and stood. “We should go back in and join the party.”
Quinn looked up at him, worry in his blue-green eyes. “You sure you’re okay?”
“I’m good.” And he was. He had Paige. She was not only his best friend now, she was his in the best kind of way. He liked sleeping with her, being able to stay at her house pretty much all the time. He liked really being a family with her and Dawn. And the sex with Paige? He loved that. Damn, if he’d only known. He wouldn’t have wasted so many years just being her friend.
But Paige was all his now.
And he wasn’t going to lose her, no way. They’d get through the test drive and end up together. He’d find a way to explain to her why he hadn’t told her about Willow’s skeevy trick sooner. It would all work out just right.
He had nothing to worry about. Not a damn thing.
Chapter Ten
That Saturday, Carter took another day off from BCC and drove Dawn to Denver to Christmas sh
op. Over the years, the trip had become an annual deal for the two of them. They left early in the morning.
Paige had a few things to go over at the shop, so she went in at eight. She made herself a cup of coffee and started running the numbers again for their expansion plans. It all looked good. She was almost tempted to give the Realtor a call, have her go ahead and make another offer on the Arrowhead Drive property. They could afford to pay more than they’d offered before Thanksgiving.
But first, she really ought to touch base with Carter. Not that he would care. He would go along with whatever she decided. Carter was the car genius. She was responsible for making the numbers add up. If she said she wanted to offer more and do it now, he would just say she should go for it.
Still, it was only right to run it by him before she made another move.
It had started to snow, pretty white flakes drifting by the window to the parking lot, when Mona came in at nine. Paige had the door to her office open and Mona stuck her head in. “What are you doing here on a Saturday?”
Paige got up and grabbed her mug. “Number crunching. Carter won’t be in. He took Dawn Christmas shopping in Denver.”
“I know.” Mona headed for the K-Cup machine and Paige followed. “He sent me a text. It’s not a problem. Jake and Billy can handle whatever comes up.” The two mechanics were already at work out in the shop.
Paige and Mona chatted about Christmas shopping and the weather as Mona brewed herself a mug of caramel vanilla crème.
“White Christmas coming right up.” Mona raised her full mug toward the window where the snow was coming down. Paige popped in a pod for herself and pushed the brew button. Mona asked, “So. How’s engaged life treating you?”
“It’s good.” And it was. Overall. It did kind of bug her that she kept saying she loved him—mostly in bed when she kind of couldn’t help herself—and he kept not saying it back. She shouldn’t let it get to her. She knew how he was.
And her coffee was ready. She pulled the full mug out from under the spout. “Are you and Dean coming to our party at Willow’s next Saturday?” Dean was Mona’s husband of twenty-odd years.
“Wouldn’t miss it.” Mona sipped her coffee. “Carter’s a good guy.”
“I know.”
“You two are great together.”
“Thanks.”
“So smile and act happy about it,” Mona teased.
Paige laughed. “I’ll have you know I am happy.”
Mona nodded. “Excellent. To you and Carter and a lifetime of happiness.” She raised her mug and Paige tapped it with hers.
* * *
In Denver, Carter took Dawn to Cherry Creek Mall and Larimer Square. They each bought gifts for Paige. Dawn helped him choose presents for his brothers and sisters. She shopped for Molly and Molly’s mom. And they bought each other presents, too. It was part of their yearly tradition. They gave each other painfully specific hints about what they wanted.
Hints like, “Hey, Carter,” as Dawn gestured grandly over a minifridge in the Macy’s Home Store.
Carter scowled back broadly. “What do you need with a minifridge?”
“It’s convenient to have a few fresh snacks in my room,” Dawn replied, playing it adorably perky. “Plus, college? It’ll be a freshman at CU before you know it. I’m so gonna need this in my dorm room.”
“Forget it. I’m not dragging a minifridge all the way home.” Total lie. He was definitely dragging that minifridge all the way home.
Once they’d clearly telegraphed what they wanted from each other, they both sneaked around, ordering each other to go elsewhere in the store so they could each grab the thing the other wasn’t supposed to know about—even though they both knew damn well what the “secret” things were, because they’d each told the other exactly what they wanted.
Yeah, it was silly.
It was also great fun, teasing Dawn, the two of them running around the stores like a couple of fools.
Getting the minifridge under the camper shell in the back of his dually without her seeing him do it? A tougher job than most years.
But he made it happen.
Once they both got all their Christmas shopping handled, Carter always took her for a late lunch at the Capital Grille.
They’d just been served the Grille’s signature cheeseburgers with Parmesan truffle fries, when Dawn announced right out of the blue, “You know, if you hurt my sister, I might have to kill you.”
He set down the truffle fry he’d been just about to pop into his mouth. “Whoa, Dawn. Where’d that come from? I thought you were happy for me and Paige.”
“I am happy for you. Mostly.”
“Mostly? What the hell, Dawn?”
She sipped her Cherry Coke. “I love you, Carter. Everybody does. But you know how you are.”
“Huh?”
“You heard me. I worry about how you are.”
He picked up another fry, dredged it in ketchup and ate it before daring to ask her what in the hell she was talking about. “Okay. I’ll bite. How am I, exactly?”
She cut her burger in half. Slowly. “You’re a great friend. You’re totally there for Paige—and for me, too. As a friend. But you’re pretty old to be suddenly deciding you want to marry my sister.”
He tried to make light of it. “Old? I’m not that old.”
“Yeah, you kind of are. I mean, come on. There are statistics about guys like you. When guys your age who have never been in a long-term, committed relationship finally do get married, the chances of it lasting are not good.”
He wanted to tell her that was a bunch of crap. But hadn’t his mother said essentially the same thing? And that was kind of spooky, the more he thought about it.
Which made him decide not to think about it.
Dawn demanded, “What changed your mind all of a sudden?”
“Nothing changed my mind. I just realized that Paige is the one for me, okay?” Did he sound defensive? He wasn’t. Uh-uh. Not in the least. He got to work on his burger, guzzled some beer.
Dawn took a few bites, too. Then she jabbed a fry in his direction. “You should take advantage of this moment and make me feel a whole lot better.”
“Yeah? How?”
“Tell me how in love you are with my sister.”
Love. Right. She just had to go and bring up love. “Look, Dawn—”
“See that?” She wiggled the fry at him. “That right there? You’re scared to say it. And that’s not good.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” He said that in his firmest, most mature tone.
But Dawn was not impressed by his firmness and maturity. “I know exactly what I’m talkin’ about.” She sat back in her chair and gave him a tight little smile. “And you know how to convince me I’m wrong, but you are not doing it.”
He threw up both hands. “Okay. Now I’m lost.”
“Oh, no, you’re not. You know exactly what you’re not saying.” She was too damn smart by half.
“Your sister’s everything to me. I just don’t believe in all that hearts-and-flowers crap, okay?”
“No, Carter. It’s not okay. You’ve got a love phobia and you need to get over it. A man needs to be able to tell the woman he loves that he loves her. Paige deserves that. You know she does.”
“You’re way overcomplicating this thing.”
“No, I am not.”
“Plus, there is no such thing as a love phobia.”
“Oh, yeah, there is. You have an irrational fear of falling in love.”
He tried a little scoffing. “You’re eighteen years old. What do you know about my supposed irrational fears?”
“Being eighteen doesn’t make me totally oblivious. Unlike some people I could mention.”
�
��Now I’m oblivious?” That kind of hurt.
Dawn tipped her head to the side and studied him for several long, uncomfortable seconds. “Look. I told you already, you’re a great guy. But you’ve had a lot of girlfriends and none of them have lasted all that long. I just worry, I do. I don’t want my sister hurt. Especially not by her best friend in the whole world.”
“But I don’t want to hurt her, Dawn. I would never hurt Paige. I want to marry her, make a family with her.”
She had her hands in her lap now, and she stared down at them, hard. “My sister is the best there is.”
“You think I don’t know that?”
“She’s only been in love once before in her life.” Dawn spoke more softly now. She still refused to look at him. “And you know what that low-down rat did to her, dumping her flat because of me...” The tightness in her voice spoke of tears about to fall.
“Dawnie. Hey. Come on, now. Look at me.”
“Fine.” Dawn jerked her head up and glared at him through tear-shiny eyes. She dashed away the moisture with the back of her hand.
He had a clean handkerchief and he passed it to her. She yanked it from his fingers and dabbed her eyes some more.
He reminded her, “That guy wasn’t good enough for Paige.”
“I know that.” She sniffed.
“And it’s not your fault that Paige came home when you lost your parents.”
“Of course it was my fault. She had to come home and raise me or I would’ve gone to my dad’s sister, Aunt Mary Frances, in DC. Aunt Mary Frances never got married and works for the State Department. She keeps plastic covers on the furniture and is allergic to pets. No way could Paige do that to me. So she came home for me. She had no choice.”
He couldn’t let that stand. “It was not your fault, no way, no how. And Paige did have a choice. There’s always a choice. Your sister made the right one—to take care of you, to keep your family together. And because she made the right choice, she got to see who that Kellogg creep really was before she went and married him.”
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